Provide children with the opportunity to observe a chicken egg as it hatches. Obtain an incubator and a fertile chicken egg that is intended for hatching. Two to three days before you put the egg in the incubator, turn on the incubator so that it maintains a temperature of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Help the children turn the egg three times each day. Make a red "X" on one side of the egg and a green "X" on the other side of the egg to keep track of how many times the egg has been rotated. Allow 21 days for the chicken to hatch.
Discuss milk production with preschoolers and explain that cows produce milk. Fill a latex glove with milk. Poke small holes in two of the fingers of the glove. Explain that the fingers of the glove represent a cow's udders. Demonstrate how to milk a cow and allow children to take turns squeezing the udders to express the milk. Alternatively, arrange a field trip to a local farm to allow preschoolers to participate in milking a cow.
Help introduce preschoolers to animal babies by reading picture books. Provide models of farm animals. Select picture books that provide colorful illustrations of farm animals and their young. Some developmentally-appropriate books about animal babies include "Baby Farm Animals" by Golden Books and Garth Williams and "The World's Greatest Baby Farm Animals Poster Book" by Samantha Johnson. Discuss the proper names for the farm animal babies. Encourage children to draw pictures of the farm animals and their babies and to label them with their proper names.
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Perform an experiment with preschoolers that will show them how a duck's feather repels water. Ducks secrete oil over their feathers when they groom and the oil they discharge repels water. Collect duck feathers from a farm or petting zoo. Put the feathers on an activity table. Squirt or pour a little bit of water on the feathers. Children will observe that the duck feathers do not absorb the water.